FIRST DIVISION

[G.R. No. 157037. May 20, 2004.]

ROSALINA P. ECETA , petitioner, vs . MA. THERESA VELL LAGURA

ECETA , respondent.

DECISION

YNARES-SANTIAGO , J : p

This petition for review on certiorari assails the Decision 1 of the Court of Appeals in
CA-G.R. CV No. 50449 which a rmed with modi cation the trial court's ruling that
respondent Maria Theresa Vell Lagura Eceta is entitled to one-eight (1/8) portion of the
disputed property.
The antecedent facts are as follows:
Petitioner Rosalina P. Vda. De Eceta was married to Isaac Eceta sometime in 1926.
During the subsistence of their marriage, they begot a son, Vicente. The couple acquired
several properties, among which is the disputed property located at Stanford, Cubao,
Quezon City covered by Transfer Certi cate of Title No. 61036. Isaac died in 1967 leaving
behind Rosalina and Vicente as his compulsory heirs.
In 1977, Vicente died. During his lifetime, however, he sired Maria Theresa, an
illegitimate daughter. Thus at the time of his death, his compulsory heirs were his mother,
Rosalina, and illegitimate child, Maria Theresa.
In 1991, Maria Theresa led a case before the Regional Trial Court of Quezon City,
Branch 218, for "Partition and Accounting with Damages" 2 against Rosalina alleging that
by virtue of her father's death, she became Rosalina's co-heir and co-owner of the Cubao
property. The case was docketed as Civil Case No. Q-91-8922.
In her answer, Rosalina alleged that the property is paraphernal in nature and thus
belonged to her exclusively.
During the pre-trial conference, the parties entered into a stipulation of facts wherein
they both admitted their relationship to one another, i.e., that Rosalina is Maria Theresa's
grandmother. 3
After trial on the merits, the court a quo rendered judgment, the dispositive portion
of which reads:
WHEREFORE, premises considered, judgment is hereby rendered as
follows:

a) Theresa Eceta and Rosalina Eceta are the only surviving co-heirs
and co-owners over the parcel of land and improvements thereon
subject of this case;

b) Maria Theresa Eceta is entitled to one fourth share of said property;

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 c) Rosalina Eceta is ordered to account for the value corresponding to
the one-fourth undivided share of Theresa Eceta in the monthly
rentals of the property with interest and must commence from the
filing of this case;

d) Parties are ordered within fifteen days from receipt of this decision
to amicably agree upon a written partition and to submit the same
for approval, parties shall appoint a commissioner to effect said
partition of the property between the parties;

e) The counterclaim by defendant Rosalina is hereby dismissed. 4

Rosalina appealed the decision to the Court of Appeals, which a rmed with
modification the trial court's ruling, thus:
WHEREFORE, premises considered, the appealed Decision is hereby
AFFIRMED subject to the MODIFICATION that the one-fourth (1/4) share
erroneously decreed to Appellee is hereby REDUCED to one-eight (1/8) undivided
share of the entire disputed property, covered by TCT No. 61036, in accordance
with law.

Her motion for reconsideration having been denied, Rosalina is now before us by
way of petition for review wherein she submits the following issues:
a. Whether the certified xerox copy from a xerox copy of the certificate of live
birth (Exhibit A) is competent evidence to prove the alleged filiation of the
respondent as an "illegitimate daughter" of her alleged father Vicente
Eceta.
b. Whether the admission made by petitioner that respondent is her
granddaughter is enough to prove respondent's filiation with Vicente Eceta,
the only son of petitioner.

c. Whether the action for recognition has already prescribed.

The petition has no merit.

We note Rosalina's attempt to mislead the Court by representing that this case is
one for compulsory recognition, partition and accounting with damages. 5 Notably, what
was led and tried before the trial court and the Court of Appeals is one for partition and
accounting with damages only. The liation, or compulsory recognition by Vicente Eceta of
Maria Theresa, was never put in issue. In fact, both parties have already agreed and
admitted, as duly noted in the trial court's pre-trial order, 6 that Maria Theresa is Rosalina's
granddaughter.
Notwithstanding, Maria Theresa successfully established her liation with Vicente
by presenting a duly authenticated birth certi cate. 7 Vicente himself signed Maria
Theresa's birth certi cate thereby acknowledging that she is his daughter. By this act
alone, Vicente is deemed to have acknowledged his paternity over Maria Theresa, thus:
The liation of illegitimate children, like legitimate children, is established
by (1) the record of birth appearing in the civil register or a nal judgment; or (2)
an admission of legitimate liation in a public document or a private handwritten
instrument and signed by the parent concerned. In the absence thereof, liation
shall be proved by (1) the open and continuous possession of the status of a
legitimate child; or (2) any other means allowed by the Rules of Court and special
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 laws. The due recognition of an illegitimate child in a record of birth, a will, a
statement before a court of record, or in any authentic writing is, in itself, a
consummated act of acknowledgment of the child, and no further court action is
required. In fact, any authentic writing is treated not just a ground for compulsory
recognition; it is in itself a voluntary recognition that does not require a separate
action for judicial approval. 8

In view of the foregoing, we find no necessity to discuss the other issues submitted.
WHEREFORE, the petition for review on certiorari is DENIED. The decision of the
Court of Appeals in CA-G.R. CV No. 50449, which a rmed with modi cation the decision
of the Regional Trial Court of Quezon City, Branch 218 in Civil Case No. Q-91-8922, is
AFFIRMED in toto.
SO ORDERED.
Panganiban, Carpio and Azcuna, JJ ., concur.
Davide, Jr., C .J ., is on official leave.

Footnotes

1. Penned by Associate Justice Candido V. Rivera and concurred in by Associate Justices

Godardo A. Jacinto and Mariano C. Del Castillo.

2. RTC Records, pp. 1–4.

3. Pre-trial Order, RTC Records, p. 64.

4. Penned by Judge Hilario L. Laqui.

5. Rollo, pp. 12–20.
6. RTC Records, p. 64.

7. CA Records, pp. 190–191.

8. De Jesus v. Estate of Decedent Juan Gamboa Dizon, G.R. No. 142877, 2 October 2001,
366 SCRA 499, 503.

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